The Vegas showgirl is as iconic as - uh - just about anything. Vegas Vic, one-armed bandits, craps tables, and the topless Vegas showgirl complete with feathered headdress. It's all Vegas, baby! (Photo from Destination360)

It's a little sad little fact that these revues are slowly disappearing. Only three productions featuring traditional showgirls remain on the Strip: the Tropicana's "Folies Bergere," Riviera's "Splash" and Bally's "Jubilee!"

They are being replaced by Broadway-style production shows. I guess that's what you'd call all the Cirque shows, plays, high-tech shows, musicals etc. It's a revenue thing as much as an image thing, I'm sure.

It got me to thinking maybe I should take the backstage tour of Jubilee! before the show, like so much of Vegas, disappears into a balance sheet of modern corporate decision making. [ed note: Bally's owner, Harrah's, has been especially non-sentimental in its razor-sharp cuts under the new ownership of two private equity groups, so anything is a very real possibility]

The cramped dressing rooms are two stories below the stage. Paula has 11 costume changes, which makes each show like an hour on a Stairmaster. 'The stairs on stage are 12 inches high, twice normal height,' she says. 'Walking down those in high heels, wearing a 20 pound costume, a headdress that sticks out three feet on each side, hitting your mark to avoid bumping into the other 85 dancers…and doing it topless…is quite a challenge.'

If you have any experiences with Vegas showgirls - shows, people, tours, send them in.